


tonight is a facet of dark red

by mayfieldsmayhem



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, How do I tag this???, Hurt/Comfort, I care about them and their dynamic a lot, Lisa's there for a split second at the end, aka not to be read as salarry, also hey hold hands with your friends!!! (as long as they're ok with it of course), best supportive bros..., btw this is completely platonic, idk I think about how Larry must have felt a lot, uhh shoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:07:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24158590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayfieldsmayhem/pseuds/mayfieldsmayhem
Summary: the immediate aftermath of destroying the red-eyed demon.
Relationships: Sal Fisher & Larry Johnson - Relationship
Comments: 5
Kudos: 17





	tonight is a facet of dark red

**Author's Note:**

> uh so I think about this scene a lot and I wanted to take a crack at. writing the aftermath? so!  
> basic rundown is this takes place directly after larry finds sal in that hidden apartment in episode two and uses todd's blaster thingy to temporarily destroy the red-eyed demon, and a little bit after larry starts crying at the end of said episode.  
> uhh potential trigger warnings: implied/reference of a near death experience (kind of vague, bc larry doesn't know for sure that sal would have died...), and discussion of parental abandonment.  
> if you need anything else tagged lmk!! otherwise, please tread carefully & enjoy!!

when larry finally stops crying that night, eyes rimmed red and bruise-like in their aching, sal leans up on his tiptoes and, with his sleeve tucked firm over his hand, brushes the still-glistening tracks off of larry's cheeks. his touch is soft, feather-light and somewhat hesitant, but he is nonetheless gentle. and larry, too tired to protest, lets him do it.

neither of them speak; instead, once sal's apparently satisfied with his job, he draws himself back down to his regular height and takes one of larry's hands, laces their fingers together easily. later, larry will thank him. for now, when sal's eyes meet his with that silent asking, he just nods.

larry barely registers that he's being led out of the empty apartment even as the top of his head brushes against the wide mouth of the hole in the wall, even as he steps back into the corridor on shaky, uncertain legs that he's not entirely sure won't collapse from under him at any time. what he does register is the warmth of sal's hand in his, the callus on the side of his left middle finger that he developed from writing so frequently, the faint raised lines of tiny scars against his other fingers. that, larry can he sure of. that, larry can rely on.

the elevator always trembles a little with their combined weight, and larry closes his eyes against the dinky-but-still-too-bright light as sal punches in their destination with his free hand. he doesn't open them even as the elevator creaks to life and begins to move; he does brace his own free hand against the guard rail, though, wrapping his fingers around the cool metal. he lets himself sway a little as they drift through floor after floor until finally, he hears that telltale ding and sal starts tugging on his hand again, soft but still a little insistent.

even with his eyes open, larry doesn't really comprehend that they're in the basement until they're halfway to his door, sal taking the lead just as he had earlier. when they're standing just outside his apartment, sal turns back to face him, his remaining eye wide and shining with honesty and says, "you should talk to your mom."

evidently, they're both a bit surprised by sal's voice - larry can't bite back a wince at the harsh, raspy quality of it, and sal himself blinks rapidly like he can't quite comprehend that the sound came from _him._ it makes sense, though; he was already screaming himself hoarse when larry finally made it up there, a desperate and terrifying sound that larry hopes he'll never have to hear again, a sound that made his ears ring and his mouth dry and his eyes wet and he was almost _too late -_

he gives no warning as he separates their hands and then pulls sal against his chest, slouching a bit so that he can bury his face in his hair as he exhales shakily and tries very hard not to start crying all over again. sal tenses a little in his grip, shoulders hunching faintly beneath larry's arms, his hands fluttering nervously around larry's sides like he doesn't know what to do with them before he tentatively wraps his arms around larry's middle. "'m sorry," larry breathes, squeezing his eyes shut against the threatening sting of new tears. he's amazed that he somehow has any left to cry. "i just."

"don't be sorry." sal's hands clasp behind larry's back, like an anchor or a guard. from where they're pressed tight against him, larry can feel the thinness of sal's arms through his oversized sweater sleeves, the way they're trembling a bit with effort. today has been a lot for both of them. "why would you be sorry?"

"'cause i almost -" larry has to cut himself off, take a deep breath in an attempt to keep the shakiness from his voice. "i almost didn't get there in time. you could've... if something _happened,_ it would've been..."

larry can't force himself to complete that thought. at the same time, it's the only one running through his head, over and over: _my fault. it would have been my fault._

sal is quiet for a moment, his silence contemplative, deliberate. he gives a little sigh of his own before responding. "but you _did_ get there in time, lar. it's -" he coughs a little, gives a quiet groan of discomfort - "it's okay. we'll be okay."

"can you..." larry starts, stops. opens his mouth, closes it. sal waits patiently, doesn't tell him to get on with it or hurry up; he just waits and listens and really, it's more than larry can ask for.

"can you stay here tonight?" he finally manages to get the words out in a rush of breath, even if the words are somewhat tremulous and his voice cracks a few times. "you can say no, i just - i'd feel better if you were around, after... that."

the full weight of the word _that_ hangs suspended between them in the air, heavy with all its implications and possible meanings. _that,_ referring to sal's very close brush with - death? possession? larry isn't sure what would have happened had he been just a little later, but he's thankful he doesn't have to find out.

 _that,_ referring to larry's realisation that he isn't cursed, has never been cursed, and that his father really did just walk out on him and his mom. all this time, he had naively hoped that his mom was wrong, and that his dad was just waiting for the right time to come back, whereupon he would explain everything and larry's life would finally feel complete again.

whatever. he'll let himself think about that later.

sal shuffles a little in his grip, and larry takes that as his cue to release him and step back a little, returning the notion of personal space to his friend even though there's a very small part of him screaming at him not to. almost as though he can hear that little part of larry, sal rejoins their hands, meeting him in the middle, a compromise proposed without having to be asked. "told my dad that was the idea before i even left," he hums, and larry can tell he's smiling by crinkling of his good eye, even if it's shadowed some by the eyehole of his prosthetic. "lisa, too. my stuff's already in your room, dude."

"always a step ahead, sally face." for the first time in hours larry actually cracks a smile himself; though it is tiny and frail at the corners, it's still something. it's still a start, a step toward whatever lies on the other side of the many revelations he's experienced tonight. he's not sure if he should call it healing, call it recovery, but it's a step toward something brighter. _better._

"you know it." sal squeezes his hand, and larry squeezes back. they stand there for another long moment, just staring at each other and silently counting their blessings in their heads, unaware that the other is doing the same thing even as their gazes meet. larry isn't really sure of anything right now - his father, the red-eyed shadow monster, his entire stance on the existence of spirits - but he can be sure of one thing: his best friend is right here, alive. his best friend is right here, and he's not going anywhere. his best friend is right here, and larry knows that neither of them are alone. across from him, linked by their hands, sal is thinking the same thing.

"i'll talk to my mom tomorrow," larry says softly, blinking against the burning in his eyes - thankfully, it's just the sting of exhaustion, a quiet call for rest. "i don't know why, but i'm fuckin' _tired,_ man. i just wanna pass out."

"god, me too," sal murmurs, bringing his free hand up to the lips of his prosthetic as he yawns. larry can't help but let out a little laugh, but it cuts off when he himself yawns in return. it's sal's turn to laugh, then.

just as larry's hand finally settles on the doorknob, about to turn it - he'd ended up leading sal this time - sal squeezes his hand once more and says, in a tone so soft larry's not sure he would've heard it if sal wasn't right behind him, "i'm right here, y'know. if you want to talk about your... your dad or anything else."

"i know," larry says, squeezing sal's hand back a final time. then, "it might... be a little while, before i'm... ready." he keeps the term "ready" as vague as possible; confronting the idea that the idealised version of his father he'd comforted himself with all this time had been nothing more than an attempt at evading a finalised sense of loss seems more exhausting than anything else. larry turns the doorknob and but doesn't yet step foot into the apartment, not yet. he turns around to face sal when he says, "we'll be okay."

and the best part is, larry actually believes it, at least for right now. "for right now" means a lot tonight. sal gives an affirming nod, and though he can see the sleepiness clouding sal's eye, he can also see the smile there, too.

larry doesn't know much about anything right now, but he has sal and his mom and their friends, and that's enough for him.

(neither of them stay awake more than five minutes when they actually get to larry's room. when she comes to check on them about an hour later, lisa just smiles, makes sure they're both covered up, removes the already-unbuckled prosthetic sal had seemingly meant to take off but had ended up leaving on his face just before passing out and sets it on larry's dresser, and turns out larry's light.

together, in the same room, in the same bed, they both sleep 'til noon the next day.

though it is relatively dreamless and dark, it's the best rest either of them have gotten in a long time.)

**Author's Note:**

> um!! thank you for reading this!! I'm very emotional about two (2) boys  
> also! I'm thinking of doing other scenes too - like what happens after the four of them leave the temple in episode three, the incident in which sal's prosthetic nails larry in the nose and he sees sal's face for the first time (said to have taken place sometime around ep. 2?), what ash did right after sal's execution (ow), maybe like a piece from larry's pov on... that nightTM, etc.! it's easy and good world-building, and kind of lets me play around with the characters themselves.  
> title is from the poem "dimensional" by jacqueline he!


End file.
